Winter storms are the perfect excuse to hole up inside on these dark days over a bowl of slow-cooked roast beef. We recently purchased beef in bulk from a local farmer to help us spend more time lingering at the table this winter and less time running out to the grocery store. If you are a meat-eater, buying your meat in larger portions can be

It’s a family tradition on my husband’s side for everyone to gather together for the 4th of July in Oklahoma. We squeeze into the log cabin on the banks of Lake Eufala for some major relaxation. The post oak and pecan forest shade us from the 100+ degree heat while we sip iced tea. We have one mandatory task prior to arriving at the cabin:

Thanksgiving looms on the horizon and I have decided to stay put this year. The holiday falls right before my final review of the term, which means I basically don’t get much of a Thanksgiving for the three years I am in grad school. So instead of traveling four hours round trip in one day to Portland and back, I am celebrating quietly in Eugene.

As I mentioned last week, I recently wrapped up another term in my Masters in Landscape Architecture studio. This term we were allowed to choose a site that personally interests us. The site had to originally be focused on a “line” in Oregon somewhere. My “line” was Foster Blvd in Southeast Portland, in the Lents neighborhood. Foster Blvd was originally the route that local farms

Typically we are selective about where we purchase our beef. This isn’t meant to come across as a lecture to people who are not concerned with how their meat was raised, but we choose to be more involved in this area. Things like being grass-fed on pasture, no antibiotics, no hormones, etc. are all important factors for us. Because of how expensive this grade of

Last Sunday at the Lents International Farmer’s Market, they had a guest speaker come to talk about bee-keeping in the city. This has been something I have been curious about for some time, but I was never really sure if you could do that in the city. To answer that question, yes you can keep bees in the city. The speaker was a man name

I have become quite the joiner this past week! Although I love the virtual community of gardeners, I have been searching for ways to join a community of gardeners here in Portland. It’s proven more challenging than I first anticipated. I began the search with gardening clubs. To date, I have found only a couple gardening clubs and their members are mostly 60+. Probably the

Eugene, Oregon, will always have a special place in my heart. I spent my college years there attending the University of Oregon and a few monumental things occurred during that time which have left me with fond memories of this little town. My work sent me down there Friday and a work connection hooked Jay and I up with an overnight stay at a lovely

I had the pleasure of spending Saturday morning with a good friend at the farmer’s market in downtown Portland. It’s the largest one in town and the earliest to open for the season. The past couple weekends have been too busy, so this is my first market trip for the year. I showed incredible restraint throughout the pleasant morning. Unbelievable restraint in fact. The weather

WELCOME

Hello homesteader! I'm Renee Wilkinson and this is where I've chronicled my adventures in homesteading since 2007. Here you will find 1,000+posts on modern homestead projects, edible landscape design and the occasional life update. Read More…